


I Want To Believe (In You and Me)

by angelica



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The X-Files
Genre: Aliens!, F/M, FBI agents, Reluctant partners become so much more, The X-Files Crossover, abductions?, because why not?, but they trust each other, felicity is skeptical, not a slow burn, oliver is a believer, secret government experiments, snapshots from the FBI
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:06:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5813425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelica/pseuds/angelica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New FBI Agent Felicity Smoak gets partnered up with Agent Oliver Queen to work on The X Files. There are too many mysteries to solve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who just watched The X Files revival and has too many feelings?

Felicity Smoak walks into the basement office on a Wednesday.

There are books and folders all around with too few furniture. It’s too quiet. There are two desks and one of them is occupied. “Oliver Queen?” she calls out to the sitting figure. She takes a step forward and extends a hand as he swirls on his chair and looks at her. “Hi, I’m Agent Felicity Smoak.”

“I know who you are.” he says, a ghost of a smile on his face, as he takes in her hand in his large one to shake it. She notes that he might be the only FBI agent allowed to have a scruff, then knowing his reputation of being the odd one out, she thinks that he probably gets away with a lot of things.

“Of course you do, you were probably briefed about me.” she starts. “Or at least someone told that you were partnered with someone, and that someone is me. Is that a file on me?” She points to the manila folder by his laptop. “My ID photo is terrible, they didn’t tell me to take off my glasses and the flash glared and… I doubt you joined the FBI to hear me babble, which I’m going to stop in 3…2…1.”

She takes a breath and looks at him. There is now a full grin on his face, his blue eyes shine. “Agent Smoak, I’m just glad to know that the FBI thinks I’m important enough to partner me with someone like you.”

She takes another step towards him, unsure how to read his comment. “You mean a rookie?” she asks and continues before he can answer. “Yes, I just got out of Quantico, but that doesn’t mean I’m a new fish.”

He tilts his head and gives her a questioning look. “No, I meant like someone who graduated with your degrees so young. Your background is quite remarkable.”

“Thank you for remarking on that.” she replies and she pushes her glasses on her nose. “I’ll just plug in my laptop and get to work.”

He doesn’t say anything, but gestures towards the empty desk on the other side of the office. It’s quite a large office, way bigger than she has seen of other agents, but it’s in the basement and she is sure those are water pipes over her head. She takes off her laptop out of her bag and places it on the desk. She doesn’t know if the wifi in the basement is as strong as elsewhere in the building, so she looks for an Ethernet cable. When she can’t locate it, she kneels under the desk and looks for it.

“What are you doing?” A voice calls out.

She almost hits her head against the desk. “Looking for the Ethernet cable.” she responds, getting under the desk.

“There is no internet down here.” he says, looking down at her from where he is standing. He is very tall, so very tall, she examines.

“This office is literally from the 80s.” she quips as she tries to get on her feet. He extends a hand to help. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to work on, but our first task is getting internet down here.”

Their first mission of connecting the office with the outside world through fast internet is a success. Their second mission doesn’t go as smoothly as they find themselves stranded somewhere in rural Virginia, chasing what Agent Queen claims is a shapeshifter. They make a wrong turn and the rental car gets stuck in the mud.

“I told you shapeshifters are a myth.” she shouts again for the second time in an hour as they walk towards the motel sign in the rain. “You should have listened to me when I said we needed GPS.”

“Smoak, I know you don’t believe me and I know you were sent to investigate me and presumably stop me, but I’ve seen things.” he tries to explain. “I need you to trust me.”

“I’m trying to.” she tells him through the clattering of her teeth. The pantsuit she is wearing is soaked and sticking to her skin, and provides no warmth at all. Her high heels make her feet hurt. “We’re partners after all, the first rule is trust.”

They finally reach the motel and Felicity has never been so appreciative of a crappy motel room with hot running water. She takes a quick shower and puts on the bathrobe that’s somehow very luxurious for a motel.

Just as she is about to get in bed, there is a knock on her door. She opens it and finds Agent Queen on the other side, standing before her wearing his still wet slacks and a white shirt. She can’t help but notice his abs showing underneath the shirt. “Can I come in?”

She lets him in and makes a beeline for the bed. She sits on the bed while he makes himself comfortable on the floor, resting his back on the side of the bed. “Are you here to discuss the case?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t like storms.” he mutters. “When I was thirteen, I was on a yacht with my family. One night, I was the only one awake and saw these bright lights right above us, in the sky. I went to find my sister. I entered her room and…”

“And what?” she asks, curious to hear what happened.

“The lights took her away. I saw it.” he tells her. He looks deep in thought. “Then a storm hit. The yacht capsized. I was the only survivor. I landed on an island. I was there for a year.”

“Oliver, I’m so sorry.” She places a hand on his shoulder, not realizing that it’s the first time she called him out by his first name.

“I’ve been working on finding my sister ever since.”

“That’s why you’re in the X Files.”

“That’s why I’m in the X Files.” he repeats. She repeats his story in her mind over and over again, not realizing that the storm is over. Her partner is one giant mystery and if there is one reason why she is in FBI, it’s to solve mysteries. She doesn’t notice Oliver standing. “I should go back to my room.”

When they get back to office on Monday, Assistant Director John Diggle is not happy with their report. She should have known that she needed to compare notes with Agent Queen, but she didn’t realize that their summary of events would be so different. She takes the blame.

“Agent Smoak, I know it was your first field mission, but next time make sure you discuss the actual events with your partner before submitting your report.” Diggle tells her as she sits opposite to him in his office. “Agent Queen has his own way of doing things, but we need to make sure that he follows protocol.”

“Yes sir.” she nods and leaves the office for her basement one.

Oliver is sitting, his long legs on top of his desk, and is playing with a pencil when she enters. “So you met Dig.” he calls out. He is not wearing a tie again, his sleeves are rolled up. She makes an effort not to notice how attractive he looks.

“I’ve heard so much about Assistant Director Diggle, he’s quite a legend at Quantico.” she comments as she takes a seat. “Nobody mentioned the size of his arms though.” She hears him laugh, then realizes what she said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

 

Two months into working with Agent Queen on the X Files, she hears about Lian Yu at a briefing meeting. The name is familiar but she can’t recall where she heard it. Diggle warns her about it later on in his office, saying that it’s a soft spot for Agent Queen, but he doesn’t explain what it is. She lets Oliver talk about it as she drives their rental in Nebraska.

Over the last two months, she has noticed that Agent Queen is usually quite stoic and doesn’t talk much. He purposefully avoids conversation with other agents. He does love talking about the cases they work on. As she drives, his voice provides the sound in the car instead of a radio. He talks very excitedly about Lian Yu, mentioning conspiracy theories and government involvement for almost half an hour. “The island was used for military experiments, but there are no records of it.”

“How do you know that?” she questions, her skepticism taking the best of her again.

“Because I was there. I saw it all, Felicity.”

She smiles at how he says her name, but her mind has too many questions. “It’s the island you were on, right?” He nods in answer. “Queen, you were traumatized and possibly going through a bunch of psychological phases. Your mind probably made it up to help process what was happening.” she tries to rationalize. “I mean when I was 13, I thought I was going to become a dental hygienist. Not the most exciting profession, I know, but I thought it was fascinating.”

He remains silent. She gets worried when he doesn’t speak, then her eyes grow wide when she turns to look at him and sees him unbuttoning his shirt. Not knowing what else to do, she pulls over the car and stops the engine.

“What are you doing?”

He doesn’t respond and instead continues unbuttoning his shirt, then removes it. Her partner is shirtless next to her. She doesn't want to stare, so she keeps her eyes on the road, suddenly feeling too hot in the cool car. “Felicity,” he calls out her name. “Look at me.”

She does. He doesn’t meet her eyes and she doesn’t need all her training to read the vulnerability written on his face. He then urges her to look at his body. She first notices the six-pack that looks ridiculous because how the hell he has a six-pack when all they do is sit at a basement and work and eat burgers from the Big Belly Burger from across the street? Then she notices them. The scars. They are in all shapes and sizes, some faded, some still reddened, making his torso look like a map she needs to read.

It’s like her hands have a mind of their own as she reaches out and touches one scar that looks like a burn mark. The scar is rough, his skin is warm under her fingers. She hears his sharp intake of air. “What happened to you?” she breathes out.

“I know about the experiments… because I was experimented on.” he replies.

At that very moment, she wants to cry, to cry for him and for what he went through. He had told her he was only 13 when he ended up on the island. He was just a child. Yet that fact hadn’t stopped the experiments; the cruelty is forever embedded on his skin, the marks in his memory.

On a rural road somewhere in Nebraska, Agents Queen and Smoak embark on something bigger than themselves without words.

They look at one another for a moment, their partnership becoming more and more meaningful at each passing second. “I trust no one as a general rule of thumb, but I trust you.”

Those words may be the most important and truthful things someone ever told her. From that moment on, she knows what she has to do. All her training, all her hard work, all her suffering has led her to this moment. She is going to help Oliver and uncover the truth.

After all, it’s all a mystery and mysteries bug her.

 

 **end**.


	2. Chapter 2

She has been a resident of the nation’s capital for six months now and realizes that she doesn’t know the city very well. When she hears people in the cafeteria talk about restaurants and parks, she is unfamiliar with the names. It’s relatively a small city, she knows, but there is so much she doesn’t know about it.

Her commute consists of a short walk from Logan Circle to the Bureau. Her heart had wanted one of the cute, historic houses in Georgetown, but better utilities and public transportation options made her current apartment more preferable. Her neighborhood is up and coming and very convenient.

She sometimes goes out for runs on the Mall and really enjoys the movie theater around the block from her office. She spends her free time catching up on her TV shows and reading her books. She never has time to visit the many free museums of the city.

One thing that’s inconvenient about being in DC is the weather. Having hailed from the desert, the humidity in summer needs a lot of getting used to for her, especially when she has to be in suits, but eventually the humidity leaves for just hot heat. She is glad for the air conditioning running perfectly in their basement office and her apartment not getting the hot afternoon sun.

Looking back to her six months, she realizes she has spent most of her time with Agent Oliver Queen. They are in the same basement office, working until late hours. They are on the road a lot together, traveling to various different locations in the country, staying at the same hotels, driving in the same rental cars.

When they are in the office and need some desperate sunshine, they go to the new pizza place across from their building. Queen was reluctant to give up on Big Belly Burger, but as they sit by the windows one day eating their custom made pizzas, he tells her that he is glad of the change.

“So, what do you do around for fun?” she asks after taking another bite from her delicious pizza.

“You mean like in DC?”

“Yeah, in DC. Do you go to places? Any recommendations?”

He takes a sip from his soda and looks at her like she asked him about his sexual history. Which she had done once, by mistake. “I do things.”

“What things, please enlighten me.” She bats her eyelashes to tease him. She just wants an honest opinion that doesn’t include investigating aliens.

“I go to the games. Nationals is pretty good.”

“Baseball? Really?”

He lets out a small laughter. “I used to play in junior league.” he tells her. “They have good hotdogs at the ballpark.”

“Now you’re talking.” she comments. “What do you do during the off season? And please say something other than investigating little green men.” She whispers the last bit.

“All evidence points out to the fact that they’re gray.” he points out with a smile she finds too attractive. For a moment she wonders what the people passing by think when they look at him. With his rolled up sleeves and scruff, he looks more like a model than a government agent. Like many times she did before, she wishes she had a less attractive partner, then shakes off the thought.

 

They are assigned to investigate a small town in Kentucky where the murder rates are too high for such a small town. According to official reports, town folks have different opinions about who the murderer might be. When they arrive, Agent Queen suggests they first talk to the sheriff, then question witnesses.

She picks up her tablet already loaded up with reports while Oliver leaves his jacket in the car. For once she wishes he could aspire to look more formal since they’re on official business as government officials, but then the heat hits and she wishes she could take off her clothes and do the interviews not in a suit.

Sheriff Ray Palmer greets them at the police station. He is tall, dark and handsome and has perfect teeth. He gives her a courteous smile and holds her hand more than necessary. She blames the heat for the momentary warmth she feels in her chest. She feels Agent Queen’s eyes on her and when she looks up to him, she can see that he is irritated.

“Can we check the autopsy reports?” he asks at once, his voice strict and all business.

“We haven’t concluded the autopsies for the last two victims.” Sheriff Palmer explains. “As you’ve noticed, this is a small town and we have limited personnel and resources.”

“We understand.” she offers with a smile, but Agent Queen cuts her before she can continue.

“Agent Smoak can supervise the autopsies while we go to the crime scenes.”

“Wait, what?”

Instead of responding, Agent Queen turns to leave, gesturing the sheriff to follow, leaving her alone in the police station. She doesn’t know what just happened, but she knows she is very angry. He has always treated her like his partner, like his equal ever since they started working together. He has always been eager to listen to her, to make sure they are a team. Now she is stuck supervising autopsies because her partner just pulled the seniority card on her.

A thin, serious looking woman appears, introducing herself as Doctor Waller to conduct the autopsies and Felicity reluctantly follows her to the back of the station where the morgue is. She has always been irked of seeing corpses, but at least the room is refrigerated and she feels herself cooling down.

The doctor works on first the body of a fifty year old white male while Felicity stays at the back, wishing she had something with her to block out all the cutting and weird squishy noises. The doctor talks out loud to herself and Felicity is glad to find out that she is not the only one with the habit of talking to themselves, then realizes that Doctor Waller is merely getting her report recorded.

“That’s strange.”

“That’ll be my specialty.” Felicity whispers to herself and walks over to the body. “What’s strange?”

“There’s no blood left in the body. And there are these puncture marks on the neck.” Dr. Waller turns the head to show her the marks. Right on the jugular vein, there are two circular punctures. If she believed in them, Felicity would say they look like vampire bites, but that’s just fiction. “They look like vampire bites.” Dr. Waller offers instead.

“They’re not real, you know. I mean if they were real I’d let Angelus suck me dry, but they’re not.” she says, ignorant of the horrified look on the doctor’s face. “Please proceed to the other victim.”

Another thirty minutes passes in a similar fashion and she feels glad that she is wearing her suit because while the refrigerated morgue was great at first, now she starts to feel the beginnings of turning into a human popsicle. She tries to warm herself by letting her anger take over and imagines how she will shout at Queen once she sees him, and that works for a bit.

The second body has the similar marks and Waller is 110% convinced they are faced with creatures of the night. Felicity may be a fan of fantasy and sci-fi, but she is a woman of science and to her, vampires are just a fruit of some really creative imaginations. Yet the case is mysterious and she wants to solve it, preferably before she freezes to death.

“Queen, when you find my frozen body, I hope you’ll be very upset because you left me in a cold, cold morgue with a doctor who thinks we should grab some garlic and crucifixes because we’re up against vampires, which is really discriminating if you think about it because what are people of other religions supposed to do against vampires? Should I light my menorah to avoid getting bitten?”

“I’m sorry, who is this?” he cracks from the other end of the line.

“I’m too cold to shout at you right now, but rest assured, you’ll be hearing my loud voice very soon.” she says as she grabs the printed reports and makes out of the morgue. “Dr. Waller finished her autopsies and thinks vampires killed the victims. Vampires.”

“The existence of vampires has been speculated for centuries.” Agent Queen starts.

Knowing she is faced with another monologue about the unknown, Felicity cuts in. “There’s no such thing as vampires," she says bluntly. "We’re just faced with a serial killer with a really twisted mind. Are you done looking at the crime scenes? Can you come pick me up? I wasn’t kidding when I said I was cold.”

“You’d like Sheriff Palmer to warm you up, wouldn’t you?”

She can’t believe what she just heard. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He doesn’t answer her question directly. “We’re done, I’ll be there in fifteen.” he says and hangs up. Her anger is back again. She takes off her blazer, folds it and places it next to her on the bench she is sitting. Half an hour later, Agent Queen walks in. She is not surprised because one thing she knows about her partner is that he is always late.

“So thanks for ditching me here and being late, partner.”

“I’ll buy you lunch.” He gives her a smile and for a moment, she forgets that she is angry at him. He keeps his promise and they eat the best BLTs they’ve ever had on the job at a small diner by the entrance of the town. “I know you don’t believe me, but we’re definitely against vampires.”

“I should have asked for garlic fries, then.” She smirks. “Were there vampires on Lian Yu, too?” she asks but then sees the look on his face turning into a sullen one. “Hey, I’m sorry.” She places her hand on his outstretched one. “You left me to supervise two autopsies, I'm taking that on you. And I can’t believe I can eat after that.”

“You never lose your appetite. Remember how hungry you were after we spent hours in the sewers?”

She smiles at that. “Those were some great mini burgers.”

“They were.”

They look at one another again, having once again those long conversations without any words with their eyes. She has noticed that they do it quite a lot, but hasn’t given much thought to it. They stop when a waitress arrives to refill their glasses. “What does Sheriff Palmer think?” she asks.

He gets irritated immediately once again, and she is baffled. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think her partner is jealous. “The buck-toothed sheriff agrees with me. He thinks it’s vampires, too.”

“Buck-toothed?”

He doesn’t respond, which adds to her suspicions that her partner might be jealous, which is a ridiculous notion.

In the end, it’s not vampires but, like she said in the first place, a serial killer with a twisted mind who thinks he is a vampire. He uses an icepick to leave the puncture marks and tries drinking the blood of his victims, which Felicity finds disgusting. They catch him at a trailer park while he is going for another victim with the icepick and not with fangs. If Oliver is disappointed by the truth, he doesn’t show it.

Two days after they return from Kentucky, Felicity walks into the basement office wearing a dress she covers with a blazer. She doesn’t miss the look Oliver gives her.

“Going out?” he asks as he casually leans back on his chair.

“Yes, actually.” she replies, a blush forming on her cheeks at the prospect of her date. She finally has something to do for fun in DC for the first time in months. “I met this guy at Whole Foods the other day. He works on the Hill. He’s taking me to dinner in Georgetown.” she adds, then continues. “Do you have Whole Foods in Arlington? The one here on P Street is amazing.”

If Oliver is jealous, he doesn’t show it.

 **end**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> excuse me while I blatantly ignore the current canon.
> 
> Shout out to &Pizza and E Street Cinema, my two loves!
> 
> Reviews are love in these hard times.

**Author's Note:**

> DAMN YOU STORM JONAS! I was supposed to be at NJ/NY HVFF this weekend, instead I drank and ate too much.


End file.
